Walking With a Ghost
by epicdetour
Summary: Sirius doesn't really know what the hell is going on, but he's never been one to ask questions. / Sirius, Regulus, OC. Slight Sirius/OC/Regulus.
1. Chapter 1

"Regulus."

The name came out as barely a whisper, and Regulus smiled to himself as he looked up at his older brother, taking immense pleasure in the shock that was written all over the slightly older boy's face.

"Hello," Regulus said with an amiable expression on his face, even braving half of a wave. For once, he doesn't feel anxiety or anger in the presence of his brother. In fact, he'd gathered up enough courage to say, "It's been a long time, hasn't it, Sirius?"

Sirius sputtered bit, feet glued to the floor, grey eyes wide. "You're dead."

For a moment, Regulus thought that Sirius said that because he wasn't supposed to be inside the Potters' home without permission. He thought that it was half of a threat and then he realized that Sirius was simply stating the obvious.

"Am I?" he replied almost calmly, almost as if this was a fucking joke to him. "I didn't realize."

A brief look of glee flitted across Sirius's handsome face, but it was gone before he could be sure. When he spoke, his voice was, but Regulus studied and he still saw little bit of happiness.

"You're not, though," he said, biting back what was probably a smile. "They were wrong, weren't they? I knew it," he continued Regulus could even say anything. "D'you know how Mum told me that you were dead? A fucking _letter."_

Regulus opened his mouth to reply with something, anything, but Sirius cute him off again as he walked him. The smile was clear on his now as he lowered himself down onto the mattress.

"It wasn't even really a letter, though," Sirius rambled on, letting out a small laugh. "It was more like – it was a sentence. Can you believe that? A fucking sentence. '_Regulus is gone and don't bother coming to the funeral.'"_

"They didn't have one," Regulus said softly, picking at his fingernails. Sirius gave Regulus a strange look.

"Obviously not," he offered his younger brother a small grin. "You're not _dead. _There's no funeral to hold in the first place."

He reached out to touch Regulus don the shoulder. Regulus, on the other hand, forgot to flinch away. Sirius's hand went directly through him. It was strange sensation – warm, a little uncomfortable, and almost ticklish.

Sirius drew back so quickly that Regulus feared that he would punch himself in the gut. Regulus stared straight ahead as he heard Sirius's breath hitch.

When he finally said, "My hand just went through your shoulder," Regulus nearly laughed.

"Observant," he managed to smirk.

"So you _are_ dead," Sirius mumbled, and Regulus noticed how he stood up, moving to the absolute furthest corner from him. "Are you a ghost, then?"

Regulus paused, thinking about this. It could be perceived as stupid question, because he was obviously _dead_ and if Sirius could see him then he must have been a ghost. But it really wasn't, because he hesitated before shaking his head and murmuring, "No. At least, I don't think so."

"You don't _think_ so?" Sirius snapped. Regulus winced at his sharp tone. "You have a _choice,_ don't you?"

Another hesitation, and then, "No."

"What do you mean, _no?"_

"That's why I don't think I'm a ghost." It suddenly occurred to Regulus that this was the first normal – well, slightly _civil_– conversation that he'd had with Sirius in _years,_and he relished the thought. "I didn't get a choice."

"Maybe some higher power made the decision for you," Sirius mutters. "Maybe they've made a new ruling that Death Eaters are forever damned to Earth instead of moving on to the Great Beyond."

"If that were true," Regulus says. "I'd be at home right now. I'd be haunting the shit out of that place, don't you think?"

Sirius doesn't say anything for a long time. Regulus turned his head away, examining a moving picture of Sirius, James, Peter, and Remus. They had their arms around each other and were laughing. Sirius looked far happier in that picture than Regulus had ever seen him in his life.

"Sirius," Regulus said finally, daring to look his brother in the eye again. "I think I need your help."

"I don't understand," Sirius said, and Regulus knew that he was _really _confused because he'd never admit that if he wasn't. "What happened to you?"

He was talking about how civil and – well, _nice _Regulus was being. Regulus dipped his head down and sighed.

"I was stupid, Sirius," he says, and he couldn't really think of anything else to say, but somehow, his mouth kept moving and words kept coming out. "I don't know what happened, alright? I was stupid, and I – I fucked up."

Sirius looked at him, alarmed. "How so?"

"How do you think?" Regulus couldn't help the snap in his voice. "I was a _Death Eater, _Sirius. I was going to help Voldemort and I –"

His head was suddenly far too heavy for his neck and he dipped down to hold it in his hands.

_Don't cry. Don't cry. Don'tcrydon'tcrydon'tyoudarefuckingcry._

"Reg," Sirius said, and the coal-eyed boy thought that might send him off the edge into a burst of tears because it had honestly been so long, _so long, _since someone had called him by that nickname. "You said you _were _going to help Voldemort. So you – you didn't? In the end, you didn't?"

Regulus's voice was hoarse when he replied. "I got scared."

Silence. Regulus didn't dare to look up. Then there was whoosh of breath and a quiet, _"Oh, thank Merlin."_

Slowly, Regulus dragged his gaze from the ground to the corner of the room that Sirius had been standing in, because he had moved to stand in front of him. He was crying. Sirius was crying, which was something that Regulus was pretty sure he'd never seen in his entire goddamn life. Sirius made a move to hug him, but he remembered how his hand had gone through Regulus's shoulder. So he opted for a teary smile which Regulus weakly returns.

"I'm sorry for being such a twat," Regulus apologized quickly, because that was best way he could think of to apologize for not trying to stop his parents when they literally chased his older brother out of their home merely a year earlier.

Sirius let out a laugh, sniffling loudly. Then, he cleared his throat.

"James," he murmured, and Regulus's head snapped at the mention of the name. "James – he'll know what to do."

"Wh – he's _here?"_

"This is Hogwarts, Reg," Sirius chuckled, still wiping away the tears before straightening up. "Of course he's here. Look, I'll go wake him up, and then he can go – we'll get Dumbledore to come or something."

"Sirius –" Regulus's face fell slightly.

"They'll know how to help you, alright?" Sirius said, already starting towards James's sleeping figure on the bed opposite from the two of them but he looked back as if for approval first.

"I don't think –"

"You came here asking me for help, and I don't have a bloody _clue_ as to where I should start. We can go ask Dumbledore to come and take a look at you. And I know you think I'm stupid because – well, I don't know why, since I'm _not_– but I can't figure this on my own and I just really fucking need someone's help."

Regulus stared at Sirius for a moment. He'd gotten snapped at by Sirius before. He'd gotten yelled at from him, too. Hell, he'd even gotten a fair amount of punches and he thought that Sirius might have cracked his skull on accident when their houses played each other in a Quidditch match a couple of years back. So this by was far was the nicest kind of angry that Sirius had ever been with him.

And thus, he simply nodded.

Sirius nodded back, practically dragging the other boy out of bed. With a yell, James toppled onto the ground. Sirius muttered something and scampered back towards his bed where Regulus was waiting. With a grumble, James stood and followed him around the bed, towards him.

Regulus stared at James. The boy had gotten taller, more muscular, growing into his tall body rather than being the awkward boy that Regulus remembered school. He still had those famous glasses and the messy hair and the mischievous hazel eyes, though they looked far too tired at the moment to hold any emotion except for exhaustion.

"What the hell are you talking about, Sirius?" James asked, scratching at his bare chest and squinting into the dull glow of the room. Regulus held his breath.

"Look!" Sirius gestured wildly towards Regulus. James's eyes raked over him, but then –

"What am I looking at?" A bit of irritation crept into James's voice. "You woke me up to show me _air?"_

Sirius positively gaped at him. "Wh – no! Look! He's right there!"

"Who is?"

Regulus sighed he had been expecting this. Sirius grew steadily more alarmed because he wasn't.

"Regulus!" he exclaimed, ignoring the warning shushes from James. "He's – he's right there!"

A look of sympathy crossed over James's face.

"Sirius," he mumbled, moving his glasses to rub at his eyes while Regulus watched all of this with slight amusement. "I'm sorry about him. I really am. I know you two ended on…" he pauses, searching for the right word to use. "…bad terms."

Sirius stared. Regulus looked down at his feet. James placed a hand on Sirius's shoulder.

"But he's right _there."_

Sirius had a look on his face like he was pouting and Regulus couldn't help but chuckle.

James looked genuinely concerned now. "D'you want to talk about it? Sirius, I don't mind staying up a few more hours if you're having nightmares, and -" he peered closer. "- have you been crying?"

Sirius tore away from James's hand, casting a glance at Regulus, who shrugged, because he knew that that would happen.

"I'm fine," Sirius hissed. James looked surprised, but he walked away – or, he began to, because as Sirius was turning away when James came back to hug him from behind.

"I love you, mate," he said before letting go and ambling off. Sirius seemed bewildered, blinking at Regulus. Regulus shrugged again.

"D'you think that now would be a completely inappropriate time to say 'I told you so?'"

Sirius groaned.


	2. Chapter 2

The first time that Sirius saw his brother, he thought that the kid was the ugliest thing in the world.

He remembered how his mother had come home with a blue bundle and was cooing at how beautiful her new baby boy was. Obviously, even at two years old, Sirius _had _to see the face of someone who had upstaged him. But when his mother let him look and he gently peeled a layer away from Regulus's face, he laughed out loud, because – well, the kid was simply _unattractive. _His skin was a strange purple-red color, and he had those black, squinty eyes, and his face was puckered up as if ready to wail, even though he never did.

Sirius always surpassed his brother in that way. He was proud of it, too. While Regulus had steadily grown more handsome as the years dragged on, he was never quite up to par with Sirius's looks.

But, almost sixteen years later, when Sirius saw Regulus standing in his room at the Potters', he could have sworn that he had never seen a sight more beautiful than that.

The last time Sirius had seen him, he had that scrawny, awkward look of a fifteen year old. His arms were too skinny for his tall frame, and his head seemed a little too big for his body. Sirius had liked that Regulus.

This Regulus was unsettling. It was as if he had matured _years _in the few months that he had been…well, dead. He had somehow become far more muscular in the arms, his baby fat had melted away, and his eyes suddenly held the wisdom of someone who had been able to live for far longer than he had.

It scared the hell out of Sirius, but he didn't say a word, simply because he was happy that Regulus was back – kind of.

The day that he found out that Regulus had died had been a sunny one.

He remembered bursting out of the doors of the Entrance Hall with James hot on his heels, whooping and cheering as the two of them sped towards the Black Lake. James was tossing papers up in the air; Sirius was tearing off his robe and tossing his bag carelessly onto the summer-scented grass.

Remus had finished his exams quite some time before and Peter was still inside completing his. He was sitting at the edge of the lake, feet in the water, and he had just barely turned around when James and Sirius barreled past him and had jumped, clothes and all, into the water.

Laughter. There was been lots of laugher and sheer joy that they had finally, finally finished their exams and that they were free until the end of the year, and free for the summer – at least, free until Remus forced them to begin studying for their N.E.W.T.s.

He and James were pulling themselves out of the water, stripping off their shirts and lying beside Remus, grinning at Peter as he finally came to join them, when they heard someone clearing their throat. It made James prop himself up on his elbows and look up before reaching across Remus and poking Sirius on his bare chest.

"What?" Sirius had murmured quietly, mimicking James's position and looking up at whomever had blocked the blazing sun from them. In front of him stood two girls. One had golden hair that caught in the sunlight and was slightly taller than the girl beside her, who had cocoa-colored skin and dark hair.

James ran a hand through his wet hair as he grinned up at them. "Boys? We've got company."

Remus turned, brows furrowing slightly as his eyes landed on the girls. "Oh – er, hi."

Sirius raised an eyebrow at his mate. "D'you know them, mate?"

"Yeah," Remus nodded, motioning to the girls. "Yeah – this is Stella Griffith," he said, waving a hand towards the pale girl. "That's Andrea Boulstridge. They're Ravenclaws. And – er, fifth years."

James coughed. "Explains why we don't know them, then." He shook his head rapidly so that tiny droplets scattered around them. "Can we help you, ladies?"

"We – erm, well, I suppose that _I _wanted to speak to Sirius, actually," Stella shifted uncomfortably, kicking at the grass beneath her feet.

"To be expected," Sirius muttered to Peter, who was on the other side of him. Peter smirked.

Sirius stood up, casually stretching because he was sure that they'd _love _seeing how his muscles contracted. "And what can I do for you?"

Andrea scoffed, letting out a low, _"Oh, Merlin."_

Stella elbowed her in the ribs, raising her hazel eyes to Sirius's steely gaze. "I-I heard about your brother, and I just…" she glanced to Andrea for help, and as if to comfort her, the second girl looped her arm through Andrea's. "I'm really sorry."

James had since lost interest, his eyes wandering towards where a fiery redhead was talking with her mates. Sirius (as well as Peter and Remus), however, blinked at the two girls, his focus remaining on the blonde.

"I haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about, love," Sirius said. "I mean, if you're apologizing for the fact that he's a complete twat, then yeah, I accept your apology."

Stella let out a little gasp, growing pale, while Andrea's grip grew tighter. She didn't seem fazed – only angry.

"You're the _twat _here," she spat. "If you had any decency at all, you'd at least feel a little remorse over the fact that your brother's dead."

The only thing that Sirius could manage to do was stare. "What the bloody hell are you talking about?"

Andrea only bristled some more. "I'm _talking _about –"

Despite looking like she were about to be sick, Stella let out a hiss, her friend's name riding out upon it, causing the second girl to grow silent. "_Stop it. _He doesn't know."

"I don't know what?" Sirius's voice grew louder and he took a step forward. James was up, suddenly, using an arm to barricade the two away from him. "Who the fuck told you that Regulus is dead?"

"I thought –"

Stella shook her head suddenly, tugging at her friend's arm like a child might to her mother to direct her to the candy shop. "Let's go, Andrea."

A strangled noise met Sirius's ears. It took a moment for him to realize that _he _was the one who had made it, when his arm flashed out to grab onto Stella's, tugging her back towards him.

James had stepped forwards. "Sirius-"

Sirius ignored him, noticing how bloody _close _to him she was now. There was a little fire burning in her eyes, and she didn't even seem the slightest bit frightened of him. He loosened his grip slightly so that he wasn't exactly hurting her, but she couldn't wrench out of his grip.

"You can't just say you're going to go after you say that sort of shit," Sirius's voice was nearly a growl.

"Because it's my goal in life to be the one to break the news about someone's dead brother to them," Stella snapped, eyes never wavering, voice sharp as ever. "I thought you knew, alright? I just wanted to be nice. _Merlin," _she hissed, wriggling her arm. "Let _go _of me."

This seemed to make Sirius snap out of his daze. He immediately released the girl, taking a step backwards. Remus or James had called out for him, but he was shoving past them all, breaking into a spring and never looking back.

He wasn't quite sure what possessed him to dash up towards the Owlery. He passed McGonagall on the way, and even though he was breaking school dress code by running around the halls sopping wet and only trousers on, she didn't stop him. She seemed to know something was wrong as well.

_It's just a sick joke that they're all playing on you. _

He burst into the Owlrey, ignoring the indignant screeches and fluttering feathers of the owls that he had startled with his abrupt entrance. He hissed at them to shut up – ever since he had become an Animagus, owls weren't particularly fond of him.

The sleek black owl in the corner caught his eye and hooted once as if to call him over. A wave of sickness began to churn in the pit of his stomach. He recognized that owl. It was the Black family owl named Augustus. Even in a room filled with a species that looked exactly like him, Augustus still managed to look poised amongst the others.

Tied to his leg was a small slip of paper. It wasn't large enough to be a letter. With shaky hands and a shortness of breath, Sirius reached for it. Augustus only stared in annoyance as Sirius attempted to get the little note off of his leg. Once he did, Augustus let out another hoot, pecked Sirius's finger affectionately (the damned owl was the only thing from the House of Black besides Regulus that could have ever stood him, after all), and Sirius bent his head down to read the simple sentence that was inked in his mother's regal handwriting.

_Regulus is dead and don't bother coming to the funeral. _

People constantly said that things hit them like a ton of bricks when they came to a sudden realization of something. Sirius had never known what they meant. Not until that moment, when his head began to spin and it felt like someone had punched him in the gut and strangled him and slapped him across the face and pulled his feet out from underneath him all at the same time.

He didn't know what to do. He didn't know what he could do.

The owls weren't very happy with Sirius when he had lurched over and threw-up all over the ground.

* * *

**Reviews would be great. **


	3. Chapter 3

Sirius was having a nightmare. In it, he was drowning.

He was – well, he wasn't quite sure where he was, but it seemed that he was on an…island? No, it was more of a rock – no, wait, he was inside of a cave. He raced towards the opening, only to be blocked by a large figure that – was that an _Inferius?_ – attempting to climb out of the water and towards him. The scent of blood was thick in the air – upon twisting his head to and fro, he saw splashes of the reddish liquid on the cave walls.

Something grabbed his ankle. Sirius tried to scream, but the sound was lost in his throat, so that he choked on it, suffocated on it. The Inferi were coming at him from all sides. He tried to fire spells, hurl rocks do _anything, _really, but nothing worked. They just kept coming closer and closer until one grabbed his ankle and tugged so he fell. The scream was let loose then and the sound seemed to shatter the barrier of silence as he desperately tried to grab onto anything he could for a good grip, to try to pull him out of the Inferi's burning grasp, but to no avail.

Soon, he was underwater, trying to claw his way back up to the surface but getting dragged lower and lower until his lungs felt like they were about to explode and Sirius was quite certain that he was about to die. He looked around him, and picked one Inferi out of the masses in the water. Its skin was pale and his face was sunken in and _Merlin, _was there even skin on his body? – but Sirius just kept staring, because he knew that face. _He knew that face._

He called out for help, water rushing into his mouth and causing him to choke, his face to burn. He was about to die, he was dying, and then -

He woke up with a start, skin sweaty and entangled in his own covers. Even as he stared up at his ceiling, he could still quite vividly see those white and ghostly figures pulling him to his doom.

It took several moments for his breathing to get back to normal as he surveyed his room. Everything was alright, there was no infestation of Inferi – just Regulus, standing by the window, attempting to draw open the curtain with much frustration on his face. Blinking still, Sirius looked around the room, the Gryffindor bedspreads and canopies meeting his eyes in the darkness.

_Thank Merlin. _

He was still in the Common Room. He was still safe. It was all alright. _It was all alright. _

"It won't work," Regulus muttered without looking up, as if he knew that Sirius was watching him. "I've been trying to open the curtains for a good hour since you were whimpering and tossing and turning so I knew you were having a nightmare. First I was trying to slap you or tickle you awake but that wouldn't work and I was trying to open the curtains and I haven't been able to _grab it _–"

Sirius closed his eyes, dipping his head down and holding it in his hands and he regulated his breathing. Regulus, on the other hand, still was trying desperately to grab ahold of the cloth barrier between the window and the room.

"I'm awake," Sirius replied, inadvertently telling Regulus that it was okay. Regulus visibly relaxed, shoulders unhunching and moving to the edge of Sirius's bed, debating whether or not he could sit down.

"What were you dreaming about?" Regulus seemed genuinely curious, running a hand through his hair. It was strange, because from a distance, Regulus honestly looked just as solid as a real person.

"It's strange," Sirius said, looking up at the ceiling before lying through his teeth. "I don't remember a thing about it."

"That _is _strange," Regulus said, sitting down (which Sirius found quite weird, because he would have expected Regulus to fall straight through, and he was about to ask when Regulus looked at him and continued to talk). "Anyways, that's not important. I think I know why I'm still here."

"Do you?" Sirius returned his gaze to his brother sitting right beside him. James stirred in his sleep, reminding Sirius to keep his voice down. Ever since he had attempted to get James involved with this whole thing, James had been keeping quite a close eye on his best friend, as if he were afraid that Sirius was going completely mad. Sirius had to be careful around others, even though Regulus had learned to keep his mouth shut when he was in another's company.

"Maybe I need a funeral," Regulus said. "I mean, mum and dad didn't hold a proper one for me. Maybe that's why I'm still here, y'know? Maybe –" he was growing more excited by the second. _"Maybe _I can't go until I'm properly let go."

Sirius stared. "We don't even have your body to hold a funeral _for, _Reg."

"That's alright! The sentiment's all the same, yeah?" Regulus's speech was becoming quicker, more enthused, as the moments wore on. "Just – you know, on the grounds here would be _fine, _too!"

"But –"

"You don't even have to tell mum and dad about it or anyone else. It wouldn't be that hard," he said desperately. "Just gather in a circle with your mates and say nice things about me! I'm sure that the higher power who's in charge of all of this will understand."

_They'll think I've gone completely mad for doing this, _Sirius thought, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he simply nodded. "Yeah, I'll do it."

* * *

"You want to _what?"_

Hisses from surrounding students telling James and Sirius to shut up resounded through the quietness of the library again. Sirius winced as James looked rather annoyed at the prospect of being shushed for the fifth time in seven minutes, but he shut up.

"I know it sounds a bit mental," Sirius whispered back. "But I – I think it would be good."

_"Good?" _James repeated. "Merlin, have you lost your mind? You _hated _your brother!"

Regulus, who was occupying the third chair at the table, winced.

"I didn't," Sirius argued, more for Regulus's sake than his own. "It's been bothering me all these months that he kind of – you know – _died _without us, erm, having reconciliations."

James's shock softened a bit at that. Regulus was watching with rapt attention, staring at Sirius unwaveringly. Sirius shifted uncomfortably under his gaze, raising his steely orbs to James's golden ones. "I just think I'd feel a lot better if we did this."

Silence. Then, James spoke.

"If you want to," he murmured, "We'll make it happen. Peter and Remus will help as well. What do you want us to do?"

* * *

**What do you guys think so far? I'm actually quite enjoying writing this and exploring the dynamics of Sirius and Regulus's relationship. **

**Anyways, I'd love some reviews to tell me how you guys are liking it so far! **


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